Together again
By Gibberish

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them Please don't sue me, or my sister
DISTRIBUTED: Solo and Abby-anyone else please just ask.
RATING: R (mild)
AUTHOR: My lovely and talented sister Gibberish. Yay
SUMMARY: Dark story. Stand alone sequel to Together. Did I mention Dark? Tammy (aka Gibberish) was in very dark frame of mind when she wrote this. Tissue warning.
SPOILER: All of Season Three

FEEDBACK: Oh yes, please.

    Sunnydale 2020. Buffy was dead. The words reverberated in his head like a cannon. He looked down at his wife's gravestone and the simple words engraved there. Buffy Anne Giles 1981 - 2020 Carpe Diem. And she had, always.

    He thought about the funeral, earlier, and almost smiled. "Buffy, Luv, you would have laughed."

    The funeral had been held at night. A concession to the one man that loved Buffy almost as much as Giles did. Giles didn't mind. His bitterness towards Angel had faded long ago. He had as much right to say good-bye as anyone else.

    He and the children, Joy, Will and Alex sat in the front. Joyce and Hank Summers sat with them, on the other side of the children.

    Giles watched as the others filed in. Willow, already crying, and Oz, with their two children. Adopted. They had wanted children, but feared passing on Oz's legacy.

    Xander and Anya. That matching had surprised him. Anya had, eventually, gotten her demon powers returned. She just hardly used them. She had kept her human form, for Xander. She only let the demon out when it was necessary. to help.

    Cordelia and Wesley. Ten years ago, the had met again in London. Six months later, they were married. They hadn't brought their son.

    Amy came in. She and her husband sat with Willow and Oz. Over the years Amy had used her skills as a witch to help Buffy and Giles when she could. Several of Buffy's former classmates attended. Jonathan. Giles knew that he had married, but tonight he was alone. There were others. Giles recognized faces but couldn't place names.

    When Angel came in, there was a tense moment. He went up to the casket, gently touched her cheek and said good-bye. Doyle had come with him, unusually somber. They took their seats in the back.

    That's when the surprises started. Six members of the Council arrived together. Not a one under eighty.

    When Spike walked in, Giles and Angel both jumped to their feet. They exchanged a look of shock surprise when Spike simply, quietly, took a seat. A woman came in; she was blonde and looked fragile. She sat alone, like a wraith. Although she seemed somewhat familiar to a few of them, no one could place her. Willow talked to her after the funeral. She said that she was Anne. And that she and Buffy once been through Hell together. The parlor filled until people were standing. Apparently, Buffy had touched more lives than anyone realized. Probably even her.

    Even Ethan Rayne showed up. He stood in the back and tried to remain inconspicuous.

    Whistler was the last to arrive. He looked about the room and thought about the woman they were all here to honor.

    Buffy - The longest living Slayer in history.

    Giles looked up. How he hoped that his Buffy was looking down on this. Only *she* could gather together, in one room, without open hostilities; countless civilians, two Watchers, six Council members, two Vampires, three Demons, two Witches, one not so nice Magician/cum Sorcerer and one Werewolf. He could have sworn he heard her laugh.

    Joy looked at her Father. He had his face raised heavenward, his eyes closed and a strange little smile on his mouth.

    As if he could feel her gaze, Giles looked at his daughter. She looked so much like her Mother. At seventeen, She was the eldest. The only girl. She had inherited some of her mother's abilities. Not enough to make her a Slayer though and Giles thanked God for that. She would make a powerful Watcher one day, if it were what she wanted.

    He and Buffy taught her, all of them, everything they could. Any one of them could be a Watcher, but it would be their choice.

    If Joy had her mother's strengths, then Will had his father's. At fifteen, he loved books and had a natural ability with magic. And was quite in love with Willow's daughter, Beth.

    Alex. At thirteen, he was an impossible combination of Buffy and Giles. One minute he would be reading. The next, he would be doing spin kicks in the yard.

    His children. His and Buffy's.

    Giles looked at the headstone once again. He put a hand to the cold granite. He sprinkled her ashes in front of the marker. Her wish. Her fear of rising again had remained throughout her life.

    He had thought himself alone in his musings, but when he looked up, he saw them. Joy, Will and Alex. Willow, Oz, Xander and Anya. Wesley and Cordelia. Angel and Spike. Ethan.

    "What are you doing here?" Giles asked. His eyes settled on Spike and Ethan. He understood their being there the least.

    "Not a whole lot of people I respect." Spike said. "Alive, dead or undead. I respected her."

    "The fact that she was beautiful to watch, especially when she was angry, didn't hurt." Ethan added.

    Spike nodded. "Could've watched her fight all night. Lovely."

    The other men nodded along with that.

    "But it's not just about Buffy." Willow said. "We care about you too. We knew that you'd be here. That's why we came."

        "I'm all right." Giles told them. Oddly it was true. He was sad and he missed her, but the anger had come and gone quickly. "Buffy and knew that this day would come. Despite my being so much older, we knew that she would go first. We never hid from it. We lived each day as the gift it was. We had more than twenty years of marriage. Neither of us thought that we would be that lucky. A part of me went with her; I'll never be whole again until I join her. But I have the children. The best of friends. I have what she gave me. Everything."

    They encircled the mock grave and said their good-byes. There were tears but there were also smiles. Buffy's body was gone, but her heart would go on through them. Her love, her courage and her loyalty would live on through this mixed bunch.

    Once they departed, one figure returned. He took five envelopes from his duster pocket. "I found them. I don't know how many you took out before they got you, but I took care of the rest," He tore open the envelopes and scattered the ashes in a circle around the grave. "Rest in peace Luv." Spike said to the only bit of sunshine that he'd had in his life for more than a hundred years.

    Buffy watched it all as if it were a movie that played before her. In death, she became the Watcher.

    When her husband joined her ten years later, they watched over them together. Just as they had in life.

END